A junior doctor killed in an avalanche in the Scottish Highlands was the daughter of a well-respected physician.

Una Finnegan was originally from Coleraine in Co Londonderry, where her father Dr Owen Finnegan was a consultant at the Causeway Hospital.

The 25-year-old victim, who had been living in Edinburgh, died alongside three friends when a sheet of snow gave way beneath them and carried them 1,000ft to the bottom of the mountain at speeds estimated to be up to 50mph.

Independent councillor David McClarty said his thoughts and prayers were with the Finnegan family, including Dr Finnegan who has been a leading campaigner against any cuts at local health facility.

"When one hears of a tragedy like this your heart goes out to the families effected, but when you discover that one of them is your own it brings it home to you much worse," he said.

"This young woman, a qualified doctor, had her whole life ahead of her and then it is tragically cut short.

"The family is a Christian one and hopefully they will get some comfort from the fact that she died doing something she enjoyed.

"The news has come with a great deal of shock to the area."

As a teenager, Ms Finnegan attended Dalriada School in Ballymoney where, in 2004, she secured 9A*s and 1A in her GCSEs.

She later studied in medicine at Newcastle University and took her masters in Anthropology of Health and Illness in Edinburgh.